Land cover change dynamics mapping and predictions using EO data and a GIS-cellular automata model: the case of Al-Baha region,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The present study designed to monitor and predict land cover change (LCC) in addition to characterizing LCC and its dynamics over Al-Baha region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by utilizing remote sensing and GIS-cellular automata model (Markov-CA). Moreover, to determine the effect of rainwater storage reservoirs as a driver to the expansion of irrigated cropland. Eight Landsat 5/7 TM/ETM images from 1975 to 2010 were analyzed and ultimately utilized in categorizing LC. The LC maps classified into four main classes: bare soil, sparsely vegetated, forest and shrub land, and irrigated cropland. The quantification of LCC for the analyzed categories showed that bare soil and sparsely vegetated was the largest classes throughout the study period, followed by forest, shrubland, and irrigated cropland. The processes of LCC in the study area were not constant, and varied from one class to another. There were two stages in bare soil change, an increase stage (1975–1995) and decline stage (1995–2010), and the construction of 25 rainwater-harvesting dams in the region was the turning point in bare soil change. The greatest increase was observed in irrigated cropland after 1995 in the expense of the other three categories as an effect of extensive rainwater harvesting practices. Losses were evident in forest and shrubland and sparsely vegetated land during the first stage (1975–1995) with 5.4 and 25.6 % of total area in 1995, while in 1975, they covered more than 13.8 and 32.7 % of total area. During the second stage (1995–2010), forest and shrubland witnessed a significant increase from 1569.17 km² in 1975 to 1840.87 km² in 2010. Irrigated cropland underwent the greatest growth (from 422.766 km² in 1975 to 1819.931 km² in 2010) during the entire study period, and this agriculture expansion reached its zenith in the 2000s. Markov-CA simulation in 2050 predicts a continuing upward trend in irrigated cropland and forest and shrubland areas, as well as a downward trend in bare soil and sparsely vegetated areas; the spatial distribution prediction indicates that irrigated cropland will expand around reservoirs and the mountain areas. The validation result showed that the model successfully identified the state of land cover in 2010 with 97 % agreement between the actual and projected cover. The output of this study would be useful for decision makers and LC/land use planners in Saudi Arabia and similar arid regions.     

Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the marine Oligocene and Miocene succession in some wells in Northern Egypt

Twelve calcareous nannofossil biozones of Late Oligocene-Late Miocene in Northern Egypt were defined and correlated with their corresponding biozones in Egypt and other parts of the world. These are arranged from the top to base as Zone NN12, Zone NN11, Zone NN10, Zone NN8, Zone NN7, Zone NN6 Zone NN5, NN4, Zone NN3, Zone NN2 Zone NP25 and Zone NP24. In the present study (Boughaz-1 Well), the Late Miocene unconformably overlies the Middle Miocene. This unconformity surface is recognized by the missing of calcareous nannofossil zones NN7 to NN9. While, in North Sinai (Malha-1 Well), the Early/Middle Miocene boundary cannot be recognized, where the Middle Miocene unconformably overlies the topmost Oligocene, and it is defined by the missing calcareous nannofossil zones NN1 to NN4.     

The role of blocking system in heavy precipitation of Iran (a case study: southeast of Iran January 2008)

This article concerns the analysis of the heavy precipitation, which allows investigating the effect of the blocking system on the unusual precipitation and temperature occurrence in Iran. The days of January 2008 have been the coldest days during the history of recorded data in Iran. Variation of precipitation during January 2008 compared with long-term data (30 years) shows the maximum positive anomaly in the stations located in southeast of Iran. However, the precipitation in consecutive days, 14–15 and 15–16 of January, produce a more important proportion of the heavy precipitation in this region. In order to study the role of the blocking system related to heavy precipitation in January 2008, the position and movement of the atmospheric systems including cyclones, anticyclones, fronts, and wind fields have been analyzed by the use of synoptic maps by the environment to circulation approach. Consequently, the weather maps indicated that the blocking system over the north of the Caspian Sea has caused the relatively deep low trough on January 5, 7, 14, 15, and 16, 2008, while the thermal and moisture gradients in the warm section of air masses have produced heavy precipitation. As a result, wind field of low levels (850 hPa) provided remarkable moisture fed by the Arabian Sea, Oman Sea, and Persian Gulf in the study area. Furthermore, the speed of wavelength and the position of the blocking system associated with the heavy precipitation can be clearly identified.     

Changes in Relative Plate Motion during the Isan Orogeny (1670-1500 Ma) and Implications for Pre-Rodinia Reconstructions

Foliation inflexion/intersection axes(FIAs)preserved within porphyroblasts that grew throughout Isan orogenesis reveal significant anticlockwise changes in the direction of bulk horizontal shortening between 1670 and 1500 Ma from NE-SW,N-S,E-W to NW-SE.This implies an anticlockwise shift in relative plate motion with time during the Isan orogeny.Dating monazite grains amongst the axial planar foliations defining three of the four FIAs enabled an age for the periods of relative plate motion that produced these structures to be determined.Averaging the ages from monazite grains defining each FIA set revealed 1649±12 Ma for NE-SW shortening,1645±7 Ma for N-S shortening,and 1591±10 Ma for that directed E-W.Inclusion trail asymmetries indicate shear senses of top to the SW for NW-SE FIAs and dominantly top to the N for E-W FIAs,reflecting thrusting towards the SW and N.No evidence for tectonism related to early NE-SW bulk horizontal shortening has previously been detected in the Mount Isa Inlier.Amalgamation of the Broken Hill and possibly the Gawler provinces with the Mount Isa province may have taken place during these periods of NE-SW and N-S-directed thrusting as the ages of tectonism are similar.Overlapping dates,tectonic,metamorphic,and metallogenic similarities between eastern Australia(Mount Isa and Broken Hill terranes)and the southwest part of Laurentia imply a most probable connection between both continental masses.Putting Australia in such position with respect to North America during the Late-Paleo-to-Mesoproterozoic time is consistent with the AUSWUS model of the Rodinia supercontinent.     

Pore pressure assessment from well data and overpressure mechanism: Case study in Eastern Tunisia basins

Abstract

Independent and complementary methods were used for pore pressure assessment in the eastern Tunisian basins. Drilling data and surveys allow settling the pore pressure profile in these basins. The main used parameters are mud weights, formation pressure surveys, drilling parameters, well logs, fluids exchange with formation and borehole issues. In the eastern Tunisia platform, the pore pressure profiles show changes in overpressure magnitude in all the three dimensions of the basin (location and depth/stratigraphy). We highlighted two overpressure intervals form bottom to top: The late Cretaceous in the North-eastern part, and the Tertiary overpressure interval hosted in the Palaeocene to Miocene series. The structural analysis of overpressure location shows that the Tertiary interval is likely to have originated in a disequilibrium compaction in Cenozoic grabens. Pore pressure cross sections and maps confirm the link between active normal faults that segmented the basin to grabens and highs and pore pressure anomalous area. In the Senonian interval, we noted mature source-rocks that can explain the overpressure in the late Cretaceous interval. In addition, the recent to active compressive tectonics may have contributed to both pore pressure anomaly generations. The fluid overpressures characterization in the eastern Tunisian sedimentary basins helps in hydrocarbons exploration. Indeed, the overpressure interval in the reservoir levels stimulates and improves the production in the oilfields and contributes to hydrocarbon trapping. Moreover, the adequate prediction of pore pressure profile contributes to reduce drilling cost and enhance the drilling operations safety.     

Mapping and classification of hydrological parameters from digital terrain data in the Musandam Peninsula,UAE and Oman

Groundwater exploration and modelling requires hydrological parameters and a large volume of hydrologic database. This study integrates remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to map and classify hydrological parameters indicates areas of groundwater recharge and discharge. Bivariate quadratic surfaces with moving window size of 5 × 5 were fitted to the digital elevation model and drainage basins, drainage network, topographic wetness index (TWI) and hydroforms were derived. The eight-direction algorithm (D8) that determines in which neighbouring pixel any water in a central pixel will flow naturally was used to delineate drainage basin and drainage network in the study area. The TWI was used to quantify the effect of local topography on hydrological processes and for modelling soil moisture. The results indicate the presence of intensive of stream network (1336 km²), wettest zones and accumulation zones (63.99 km²) within Wadi Bih, the UAE and Wadi Khasb, Oman, suggesting regional recharge.     

Temporal trends of hydro-climatic variables and their relevance in water resource management

Identification of temporal changes in hydrological regimes of river basins is an important topic in contemporary hydrology because of the potential impacts of climate change on river flow regimes.For this purpose,long-term historical records of rainfall(P),runoff(Q)and other climatic factors were used to investigate hydrological variability and trends in the Tajan River Basin over the period 1969e1998.Actual evaporation(E),rainfall variability index(d),evaporation ratio(CE)and runoff ratio(CQ)were estimated from the available hydroclimatological records.Mann-Kendall trend analysis and nonparametric Sen's slope estimates were performed on the respective time series variables to detect monotonic trend direction and magnitude of change over time.Rainfall variability index showed that 1973 was the wettest year(δ=+2.039)while 1985 was the driest(δ=-1.584).Also,decades 69e78 and 89e98 were recognized as the wettest and driest decades respectively.The gradient of variation of climatological parameters showed that during the study period,all three parameters of rainfall,evaporation and runoff have decreased and the variations of rainfall and evaporation were significant at the 95%level.Investigation of hydrological changes due of dam construction(1999)showed that the amount and annual distribution of discharge were completely different pre and post-dam construction.Discharge decreased in high water months and increased in low water months to meet water supply demands,especially for agriculture.The relationship between temperature and rainfall trends is compared for three stations in Mazandaran Province(Gorgan,Babolsar and Ramsar)from 1956 to 2003 and nine other stations with different statistical periods of 19e36 years,relating trends to northern hemisphere and global trends.Decreases in temperature were accompanied by decreases in rainfall,and vice versa.These trends were not observed in northern hemisphere and world scales,where temperature increases are accompanied by decreases in rainfall.These variations of hydroclimatological parameters show undesirable water resources situations during the statistical periods if the trend continues severe water resource crises.     

Modelling, design and diagnostics for a photoionised plasma experiment

Photoionised plasmas are common in astrophysical environments and new high resolution spectra from such sources have been recorded in recent years by the Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites. These provide a wealth of spectroscopic information and have motivated recent efforts aimed at obtaining a detailed understanding of the atomic-kinetic and radiative characteristics of photoionised plasmas. The Z-pinch facility at the Sandia National Laboratories is the most powerful terrestrial source of X-rays and provides an opportunity to produce photoionised plasmas in a well characterised radiation environment. We present modelling work and experimental design considerations for a forthcoming experiment at Sandia in which X-rays from a collapsing Z-pinch will be used to photoionise low density neon contained in a gas cell. View factor calculations were used to evaluate the radiation environment at the gas cell; the hydrodynamic characteristics of the gas cell were examined using the Helios-CR code, in particular looking at the heating, temperature and ionisation of the neon and the absorption of radiation. Emission and absorption spectra were also computed, giving estimates of spectra likely to be observed experimentally.     

A modified genetic algorithm for precise determination the geometrical orbital elements of binary stars

The paper presents a modified genetic algorithm called adapted genetic algorithm with adjusting population size (AGA-POP) for precise determination the orbital elements of binary stars. The proposed approach is a simple, robust way that can be considered to be a new member in the class of self organizing genetic algorithms. The proposed AGA-POP is applied on the star η Bootis of MK type G0 IV to find a set of optimal orbital elements. This leads to obtain the best fitting of Keplerian and phase curves. The modified method is compared with other different methods such as standard genetic algorithm, adapted genetic algorithm (AGA) and least square methods. Simulation results show the effectiveness of using AGA-POP compared with other different classic genetic algorithms in reducing the computation time. Also, better performances have been achieved when using the proposed technique.